taw / taw / noun
mountain
taw · tawnu · tawğa · tawda
miŋi taw — Mount Elbrus
A dictionary and grammar of
Karachay
Try at or atlarıbızdan — Cyrillic or Latin, any inflected form finds its word.
How the engine reads a word
“from those of us that went”
from barırğa — to go
Every piece above, and the English with it, is the engine's own answer for this form.
One engine builds every table on this site — and the search reads its output, so any of these forms typed above leads back to its word.
Entry of the day
at / at / noun
horse
at · atnı · atha · atda
atnı semirtseŋ, jayaw jürümezse — fatten your horse and you will not go on foot
ayran / ajran / noun
salted yoghurt drink
ayran · ayrannı · ayranŋa · ayranda
çayqağan ayran — churned ayran, buttermilk
jürek / dʒyrek / noun
heart
jürek · jürekni · jürekge · jürekde
jürekni tebiwü — the beating of the heart
barırğa / barɯrʁa / verb
to go
barama · bardım · barırma
sen qayrı barasa? — where are you going?
kök / køk / noun
sky
kök · köknü · kökge · kökde
kökge deri — up to the sky
ariw / ariw / adjective
beautiful
ariw · ariwraq · em ariw
börü / børy / noun
wolf
börü · börünü · börüge · börüde
bölünŋenni börü aşar — the wolf eats the one that has separated off
gırjın / ɡɯrdʒɯn / noun
bread
gırjın · gırjınnı · gırjınŋa · gırjında
buday gırjın — wheat bread
bilirge / bilirɡe / verb
to know
bileme · bildim · bilirme
men anı bileme — I know him
jaŋur / dʒaŋur / noun
rain
jaŋur · jaŋurnu · jaŋurğa · jaŋurda
jaŋur jawadı — it is raining
teŋ / teŋ / noun
friend
teŋ · teŋni · teŋge · teŋde
jan teŋim — my dearest friend
hıçın / xɯtʃɯn / noun
filled flatbread
hıçın · hıçınnı · hıçınŋa · hıçında
bışlaq hıçın — a cheese-filled flatbread
tülkü / tylky / noun
fox
tülkü · tülkünü · tülküge · tülküde
aq tülkü — an arctic fox
süyerge / syjerɡe / verb
to love
süyeme · süydüm · süyürme
süygenibiz süyünsün! — may the one we love rejoice!
qar / qar / noun
snow
qar · qarnı · qarğa · qarda
teren qar — deep snow
süt / syt / noun
milk
süt · sütnü · sütge · sütde
jaŋı sawulğan süt — freshly milked milk
üydegi / yjdeɡi / noun
family
üydegi · üydegini · üydegige · üydegide
tolu üydegi — a whole family, one with father, mother and children
terek / terek / noun
tree
terek · terekni · terekge · terekde
alma terek — an apple tree
aşarğa / aʃarʁa / verb
to eat
aşayma · aşadım · aşarma
biz aşağanbız — we have eaten
jel / dʒel / noun
wind
jel · jelni · jelge · jelde
bulbul / bulbul / noun
nightingale
bulbul · bulbulnu · bulbulğa · bulbulda
bulbul tawuşla — nightingale trills
igi / iɡi / adjective
good
igi · igirek · em igi
igi adam — a good person
köl / køl / noun
lake
köl · kölnü · kölge · kölde
köl qorqaq da qol batır — the heart is timid but the hand is brave
bışlaq / bɯʃlaq / noun
cheese
bışlaq · bışlaqnı · bışlaqğa · bışlaqda
jaŋı bışlaq — fresh cheese
kiştik / kiʃtik / noun
cat
kiştik · kiştikni · kiştikge · kiştikde
it bla kiştikça — like cat and dog — a proverb
kelin / kelin / noun
bride
kelin · kelinni · kelinŋe · kelinde
jaŋı kelin — a new bride
jer / dʒer / noun
earth
jer · jerni · jerge · jerde
jerni sibirirge — to sweep the floor
tuqum / tuqum / noun
family name
tuqum · tuqumnu · tuqumğa · tuqumda
sizni tuqumuğuz qalaydı — what is your family name
iynanırğa / ijnanɯrʁa / verb
to believe
iynanama · iynandım · iynanırma
süyseŋ iynan, süyseŋ qoy — believe it if you like, or do not
tübeşirge / tybeʃirɡe / verb
to meet one another
tübeşeme · tübeşdim · tübeşirme
tambla tübeşirbiz — we shall meet tomorrow
About
A dictionary and grammar of Karachay, the Turkic language of the Karachay people of the Caucasus. The language is normally written in Cyrillic; every word here is stored in one canonical spelling and shown in the script you choose — Cyrillic, Karachay Latin, or the spelling of one of the printed sources.
The tables are generated, not typed in. One engine builds every conjugation, case and possessive on the site — 1,301,797 forms from 9,157 entries — and the search answers from the same forms, so a word met in a real text leads back to its entry. Where a printed source attests a form, the data says so; where a paradigm is unverified, the data marks that too.
Sources
Where the definitions come from.
- Суюнчев & Тенишев 1989 — Карачаево-балкарско-русский словарь. Moscow. 29,738 entries drawn on — the largest single source.
- ТСКБЯ 1996–2005 — Толковый словарь карачаево-балкарского языка, 3 vols. Nalchik. 24,499 entries — the explanatory dictionary, and the only one that defines in Karachay rather than translating.
- Nevruz 1991 — Karaçay-Malkar Türkçe Sözlük. 11,504 entries, and the Turkish side of every triangulation.
- Суюнчев & Урусбиев 1965 — Русско-карачаево-балкарский словарь. Moscow. Consulted Russian-first.
And for the spelling and the grammar.
- Seegmiller 1996 — Karachay. Lincom. The reference grammar.
- Sipos & Tavkul 2015 — Karachay-Balkar Folksongs. Song texts — real connected Karachay.
The three scholars' own Latin spellings are available as display scripts, from the gear in the corner. Definitions are our own English, written from these sources and checked against a corpus of 19.6 million words; the sources' own wording is not reproduced.
Learn
A grammar reference covering the language topic by topic — every page footnoted to the Karachay grammar books, with the form tables built by the engine — is being checked and is not on the site yet.
Lessons are being written and are not on the site yet.
The dictionary
| Part of speech | Among them | Entries |
|---|---|---|
| Verbs | barırğa to go · kelirge to come · bilirge to know | 2,410 |
| Nouns | taw mountain · at horse · ana mother | 4,817 |
| Adjectives | ariw beautiful · igi good · ullu big | 1,579 |
| Adverbs | qayda where · açhasız having no money · açı bitter | 522 |
| Participles | abınıwçu one who stumbles · açıqlanŋan modified, qualified · açıqlawçu one who clarifies | 332 |
| Interjections | ho yes · qayda where · aferim well done, bravo | 146 |
| Particles | ho yes · aha aha!, ah!, well then · ahırı end | 78 |
| Numerals | altaw six of them · altawlan six people, the six of them · altı six | 75 |
| Postpositions | ala they; those · alğa forward, ahead · allı front | 72 |
| Pronouns | men I · ala they; those · alanıqı theirs | 60 |
| Conjunctions | qayda where · alay like that, so · alese if so, then | 25 |
| Determiners | qayda where · bar there is · barı all | 16 |
| All entries | 9,157 |
Word banks
- Pronouns 6 cases
- Question words 14 entries
- Greetings & courtesy 15 entries
- The little words 22 entries
- Pointing words 18 entries
- Numbers 32 entries
- Time words 35 entries
- Days of the week 7 entries
- Opposite pairs 27 entries
- Family 26 entries
- Body parts 35 entries
- Food & drink 43 entries
- Animals 45 entries
- Nature & weather 54 entries
- Colors 12 entries
- Parts of a house 20 entries
- The face, in detail 11 entries
- Hand tools 20 entries
- Small creatures 13 entries
- Birds 25 entries
- The four seasons 4 entries
- Directions & orientation 17 entries
- Islamic terminology 45 entries
- Plants & plant parts 29 entries
- Furniture 16 entries
- Kitchen & tableware 22 entries
- Clothing & accessories 24 entries
- Preparing food 16 entries
- Work & occupations 22 entries
- Community & hospitality 22 entries
- Feelings, character & values 25 entries
- Health & feeling unwell 22 entries
- Learning, science & inquiry 25 entries
- 100 common verbs 100 entries
- 100 everyday nouns 100 entries
- Quantity words 27 entries
- Intensifiers & hedges 30 entries
- Postpositions of place 26 entries
- Tastes & textures 36 entries
- Weights, measures & amounts 38 entries
- Stages of life 30 entries
- Describing character 37 entries
- Describing how someone looks 31 entries
- The Karachay horse 41 entries
- The shepherd's work 39 entries
- The village & the market 38 entries
- Custom & law 38 entries
Cite as
Karachay dictionary (karachay.com), data version fa515a1a, retrieved 20 September 2026.